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In the news today: For our first story of the week focusing on campus news, Bernie Sanders stumps for Harris-Walz at MSU. For our second story focusing on more campus news, MSU student organizers push to cancel classes on Election Day. For our final story of the day focusing on student life, Izzone campout completes jam-packed night of festivities at MSU.
Creators & Guests
What is The State - A Podcast from The State News + Impact 89FM?
The State is a daily rundown of the headlines that matter to the East Lansing, MI community.
This is The State for Tuesday, October 8th where we bring you the headlines that matter. I'm Rachel Fulton.
For our first story of the week focusing on campus news,
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain addressed Michigan State University students and supporters at MSU's Kellogg Center Sunday afternoon.
Speaking to a crowd of around 600, Sanders mocked Donald Trump for not accepting the outcome of the 2020 election, called for free tuition at public universities and decried "corporate greed" driving up the cost of living. The last time Sanders spoke at MSU was during his 2016 presidential campaign, when he garnered a crowd of over 10,000 at the Breslin Center.
Before Sanders took the stage, Fain delivered a speech praising Kamala Harris' track record on unions and protecting manufacturing jobs. At various points, Fain called Trump a scab and attacked him for his failures to protect manufacturing jobs during his presidency.
After Fain's speech, Sanders took the stage and immediately launched into the progressive arguments that have made him so popular amongst young people. The Senate's longest-serving independent mocked Trump with a fake cry and stated plainly that no person supporting the rule of law should vote for him.
Sanders hammered on many issues relevant to young voters such as securing abortion rights, raising the minimum wage and reforming campaign finances. He also stressed the threat of climate change, pointing to the carnage left in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Sanders and Fain's visit to East Lansing came as absentee voting began in Michigan last Friday. MSU students will also be able to vote early starting Oct. 21 at the Communication Arts & Sciences building in room 195-A.
For our second story focusing on more campus news,
The last time Michigan State University students came out in droves to vote, for the 2022 midterm election, they did so on top of a full day of classes, work and extracurriculars. Some students, particularly those voting at Brody Hall, had to wait nearly four hours in line before casting their ballots.
For students who work during the day or carry heavy course loads, students say these barriers to voting further discourage them from participating in the electoral process.
Their proposed solution? Get the MSU administration to recognize Election Day as a university holiday, meaning no classes would be held that day.
Co-founders of Un-Pac met with a few university trustees in the spring to propose their election day holiday initiative. They were told that they lacked evidence showing sufficient student support for their proposal.
Since then, a handful of students have begun to canvass academic buildings and residence halls across campus, collecting signatures to demonstrate student interest in their cause. Currently, the group has collected roughly 1,100 student signatures.
The group aims to amass 3,000 signatures by the end of the academic year. That does mean, however, that the group's ultimate goal of having classes canceled on election day would not be relevant until 2026, when the next general election will be held.
This is not the first time that students at MSU have attempted to lobby university administration over this issue. Most recently, in 2021, the Associated Students Of Michigan State University (ASMSU) recommended that the administration hold no classes on election day as part of a larger restructuring of the academic calendar. That proposal was ultimately rejected over concerns that the added day off would unbalance the calendar.
Georgia Frost, the president of ASMSU's general assembly in 2021, said one large obstacle that prevented the university from accepting the proposal was that election day lacks recognition as a federal holiday. Frost said that it's more difficult for the university to create rules and holidays that don't fall in line within federal designation.
However, Frost expressed skepticism over the university's reasoning for blocking the proposal. For other dates such as fall break, she said, the university has had no problem moving around the calendar to make it work.
For our final story of the day focusing on student life,
Friday, Oct. 4, was one of the biggest days of the year for MSU.
The annual Izzone campout coincided with MSU Madness, MSU's anticipated football game against No. 6 Oregon and the ice hockey team's season opener against Lake Superior State.
During the Izzone campout, student ticket buyers camp overnight at Munn Field with men's basketball coach Tom Izzo and the team. Attending gives students Izzone points, which translates into priority selection for student section tickets for MSU basketball.
Watching the football game was not a problem for the campers. The televised game was displayed on the main stage for a watch party. Some even watched the game from their tents.
During halftime of the football game, a drone show was presented to all of the campers. Hundreds of drones were in the air, synchronizing and making images of the Spartan logo, basketball players dunking and even Izzo with the lights.
Izzo, as always, was able to keep the crowd excited. He led the MSU cheers and encouraged his own players to crowd surf.
The weather at this year's campout was a lot nicer than in years past, which have featured rain and temperatures below 40 degrees.
Although the Michigan State football team lost to Oregon, overall students still kept their Spartan spirit.
Before we end our episode, today's weather forecast is predicting intervals of clouds and sunshine with a high of 66 degrees and a low of 39 degrees.
Thank you for joining us for The State... Produced by The State News and Impact eighty-nine F-M. You can find us online at State News dot com and Impact eight-nine F-M dot org. We'll be back tomorrow with more.